Hello, all.

Finally, success. Previously, I had trials and tribulations running Boinc on my Linux platform. I was successful initially, in a wobbly sort of way, but changed my hard drive and replaced SuSE Linux 10.2 with version 10.3. It has been difficult to run Boinc reliably owing, presumably, to unknown errors on my part.

I believe I have overcome these troubles. The following are the steps I have taken to successfully install and run Boinc on SuSE Linux version 10.3. The installation appears reliable (fingers arms legs eyes crossed) Part of this information comes from the WCG web-site (ie steps (8), (9), (11)).

There are a number of ways to install Boinc depending on purpose. My approach here is simply to install Boinc on a personal system (ie Where you sign in personally, not as root).


(1) Log in as you normally do, (not as root).

(2) Using your favourite web browser (eg Firefox) go to www.worldcommunitygrid.org

(3) Click on DOWNLOAD

(4) If you have not already registered, register. Else, log in.

(5) Once logged in, select the current version of Boinc for Linux (v. 5.10.21 as of February 2008)

(6) Download the Boinc software to your home directory (ie home/Your_Name_Directory).

(7) Open a terminal session (Kmenu (ie start) -> System -> Terminal -> Konsole). You should be in your home directory.

(8) Make the boinc file executable by typing the following command and hitting return:
chmod 700 BOINCFILENAME (ie if you download boinc_5.10.21_i686-pc-linux-gnu the command is chmod 700 boinc_5.10.21_i686-pc-linux-gnu)

(9) Install the boinc file by typing ./BOINCFILENAME and hitting return (ie if you downloaded boinc_5.10.21_i686-pc-linux-gnu, you would type ./boinc_5.10.21_i686-pc-linux-gnu). The period-slash notation (ie "./") tells Linux to run the programme as an executable file.

(10) You will see a direction to start Boinc by running "run_manager". Don't follow this directive. Instead, change to the BOINC directory by typing cd BOINC and hitting return.

(11) Attach Boinc to the WCG by typing the following command all on one line and hitting return:

./boinc -attach_project www.worldcommunitygrid.org ACCOUNTKEY

(WHERE ACCOUNTKEY IS THE PERSONAL KEY GIVEN TO YOU BY WCG)

(12) You should see a lot of lines appearing saying that various files are being download.

(13) The client is running. However, to see a better view of things, you need to start the boinc manager. To start manager, minimise the terminal session (ie don't kill it) and follow the next steps beginning number (14).


CREATING A DESKTOP ICON TO RUN BOINC MANAGER

(14) Create a shortcut to the file run_manager which contains the script to start the graphical user interface of boinc. To do this, put the cursor arrow on an empty area of the desktop. Right click. Click on 'create new'. Click on 'link to application'. In the title box, replace "Link to Application" with "Run Boinc Manager".

(15) Click on the "Application" tab.
(16) Click on "browse".
(17) Select Home Folder.
(18) Click on BOINC folder.
(19) Click on "run_manager"
(20) Select 'open'.
(21) You should be back at the shortcut creation menu.
(22) Click on Close or OK to close the session.

An icon will have appeared on the desktop. It should say 'run boinc manager' (ie the text you typed to replace the words "link to application".

Now, as the client is running (assuming you set it up a few minutes ago) you can start the Boinc Manager by clicking on the 'Run Boinc Manager' icon on the desktop. It should appear in simple mode. If you click on the advanced view, you will have a more detailed view of the process. The boinc manager will take a few seconds to stabilise - it is simply gathering information about the client and the work-in-progress.


STOPPING THE PROCESS
(23) Should you decide to stop the process (ie to turn the computer off or to reboot), bring up Boinc Manager (advanced view). Click on Projects tab. Highlight WCG. Select 'suspend' from the options to the left. Don't worry about shutting down either the client or boinc manager. Simply shut down linux.


RESTARTING BOINC CLIENT
(24) To restart the client process, restart Linux. When the desktop appears, the terminal session should be minimised. Bring it up. Type ./run_client (if terminal session did not appear on re-boot - ie you most likely killed it, build a new session by brining up terminal, move to the BOINC directory, and typing ./run_client)
(25) Hit return.
(26) The client process will begin. However, if you suspended activities from boinc manager, you will not see any activity. To restart the 'crunching' activity, follow the directions under RESTARTING BOINC MANAGER, below.


RESTARTING BOINC MANAGER
(27) On the desktop, click on the Run_Manager Icon. The Boinc manager will appear.
(28) Click on advanced view to see the details.
(29) Select the Projects tab.
(30) In the project tabs, click on the WCG line.
(31) Click on the resume button to the left.
(32) Confirm that the processes have restarted by clicking on Tasks tab. If the projects are running, you will see the time changing in the tasks section. And, if you look at the terminal where client is running, you should see a line or two saying the suspended projects have been restarted.

Known Problems

The first concern I have with this process is that the client is running in a terminal session whilst the manager is running in a graphics session. This is a bit inelegant. There ought to be a way simply to have the graphics session running (meaning that the client is started and controlled from the manager alone). Some day I will figure this out.

The second concern is that, with the approach described above, one has to start and re-start boinc manually. It would be nice to have a script to do this automatically as occurs in Windows. This is not rocket science.

Finally, given that you can download and install Lotus Notes v. 8, and Lotus Symphony (a completely new version of Lotus office for Linux (and Windows) - and free! - check it out (no, I am not an IBMer - I'm simply poor - but I respect IBM's work)) with only a click or two, one would think that the install and run regime for Boinc would be as easy as installing and running Lotus Notes or IBM Symphony. Hopefully, that time will come.

Well, as with the Looney Tunes, That's All Folks, for the moment. Hope this helps. I'm off to bed.

Kind regards,

Mark H.


[Edited: 23rd March 2008 to add the following comments:

I've installed the current version of Boinc - 5.10.45 (ubuntu edition) over top my current working Boinc directory (after stopping Boinc) using instructions 1 to 8, below. However, when I attempted to install using instruction 9, I received a "Permission denied" message. To overcome this hurdle, I simply opened Konqueror, moved to my home directory, right-clicked over the boinc directory, selected 'properties', selected 'permissions' and ensured the owner permission was set to 'can view & modify content', and finally selected 'apply changes to all subfolders and their contents' at the bottom of the permissions window. This step worked, and I could then successfully execute instruction 9, below.

I re-started boinc, and everything started from the point at which boinc had been stopped. Happy.

The point, however, is that the instructions in this post appear to work for Boinc version 5.10.45.

Hope this of use.

Regards, Mark

[end edit 23rd March 2008]